A Cloud on the Horizon
by UNCPanda
Summary: Peace always comes at a price, for some its greater than others. For Sakura it was going to take effort to just keep her sanity. ShiXSakura
1. Every Story Starts Somewhere

They would be fine without her, they would be fine without her, or at least that's what she kept telling herself. Naruto had the Kyuubi, Bee-sama had hachibi, and Gai and Kakashi despite extreme chakra exhaustion were stable. Tsunade was not. No Tsunade was hurt and she needed a medic, and from what Sakura had been told, desperately. So here she was traveling full spend, against orders to her Hokage's location. Then again she was so far past orders in that moment that she couldn't bring herself to give a damn.

Up ahead the trees were thinning and with one last push off a tree branch she landed on brown grass. Without stopping she continued running, the grass giving way to sand and rock. With the rock sculptures in view Sakura pushed more chakra into her legs ignoring the burning sensation she flared her chakra letting them know she was coming. Genma and Raido met her at the edge of the crowd.

"You're too late Haruno; the Raikage's right hand says she only has moments."

Sakura's eyes narrowed as she pushed through the crowd to the center. Her Shishou lay in the middle a man with blonde hair supporting her head, his hands glowing green: he was numbing the pain. Walking to the center to the woman she tied her hair back and knelt down next to the woman. Ignoring the eyes on her she got to work. Breathing was short and shallow, her lips and fingernails had a turned a light shade of blue, her skin was clammy and her pulse was weak but rapid. Sakura cursed, she was in shock and on top of that had internal bleeding and most likely a concussion. The Yin Seal had failed, her chakra was almost completely gone even her abundant reserves. This was not good; Sakura didn't have any time to waste and then there was the fact that her own chakra was less than fifty percent.

She didn't have a choice though, this woman was the greatest medic of all time, a Sannin, the Godaime Hokage, the woman that had made Sakura into a Kunoichi, helped her find her place and the one person who truly understood her. Sending chakra to her index finger Sakura cut Tsunade's top down the middle before focusing on Tsunade's heart. She had to get her circulation going again and get oxygen back in the blood. Focusing on Tsunade's heart Sakura began barking out orders. "Genma, I need you to start breathing for her." When he didn't step forward Sakura looked up, he was standing next to Raido looking down on her, his eyes filled with pity. Taking a brief second to look around she saw the same look in everyone's eyes; Kotstsu, Izumo, all four of the other Kage. She turned to pleading "Genma, please if not for me or Tsunade than for Shizune, please." He didn't hesitate this time as he took the short walk towards her he knelt down, tilted Tsunade's head back and breathed. . "Good make sure you do that every five seconds until I say stop."

"There's nothing you can do kid. It's her time." The voice was right next to her ear; flicking her eyes to the man she ignored him in favor of Gaarra.

"Garra, I'm calling in a favor for the lecture I gave for free to your hospital staff, right after the Akastuki incident." The Kazekage littered with cuts, scrapes and bruises stepped forward. "I need you to make sure the perimeter is secure." The Kazekage nodded before summoning a few of his men. Her next order went to Temari, "Temari can you get me a blanket or something I need to regulate her body temperature." Temari disappeared without a word.

The man spoke again, "You need to let go, I'll stop managing her pain so you can say goodbye."

Sakura didn't hesitate in her answer "I'm going to say this once. I might be young but I'm a damn good medic trained by the best, this woman is my Shishou and my Hokage and I'll give up when she's dead and gone but not a second before. So don't even think about stopping what you're doing cause if you do and she dies or feels any pain I will break every bone in your body that's a promise."

"What did you just . . .?"

"Shut up and focus, God knows you'd do it for someone you cared about."

From that point out Sakura's orders were followed and the man next to her kept his mouth shut and a steady flow of chakra throughout her Shishou's nervous system. Sakura wasn't sure how long she worked all she knew was that it had been light out when she had started and it was dark when Shizune and full medic team accompanied by her boys burst through the crowd.

Sakura was only slightly aware as medical seals were transferred from scrolls to the ground as the medics took their positions and work began on the internal bleeding Sakura had managed to do a patch up job on until more help or better facilities were available.

Sakura numbly felt someone wrap a hand around her wrist and pull gently. Sakura's hands stayed firmly in place "If I let up now we'll lose ground I can finish."

"Sakura . . ."

"I can finish Shizune focus on the bleeding."

There was no further arguing, Shizune knew the expression on Sakura's face, and after all she had worn it herself. With no doubts in her mind Shizune turned her attention to the patch up job Sakura had performed. A simple clotting plug, something to keep the bleeding at bay until someone else showed up to help, a small act that had no doubt kept Tsunade alive and had taken a good deal of chakra and concentration.

Shizune and Sakura were the ones to work on the internal damage, while the man who's name Sakura had still not asked continued to keep Tsunade unconscious and out of pain. Two other medics that Sakura recognized from the Konoha hospital kept Tsunade's body temperature consistent and managed the IV they had put in for fluids.

It took two more hours to stop the bleeding permanently and repair all the damage. As Shizune let the chakra flood from her hands she put a hand on Sakura's shoulder "She's stable you can stop." Sure enough Tsunade's heart was beating at a regular pace. Sakura let her chakra flicker out and leaned back against her heels and winced. Her legs were stiff and asleep, and she honestly couldn't bring herself to care as she scooted to her butt and stretched her arms. Taking relief at the sound of joints popping as she watched Tsunade be moved on to a stretcher as Shizune approached the man that had been, a huge help despite his . . . doubts. Sakura watched as Shizune gave a bow before straightening and giving her thanks to the man "I can't thank you enough Shi-san."

The blonde met Shizune's eyes and nodded his head. He was just as exhausted as she was if not more. "Sakura-chan." Sakura's head slowly swiveled towards the voice, as she watched Sai come towards her. Finding no strength to go to him Sakura waited. Kneeling down beside her Sai wrapped an arm around Sakura's shoulders and she leaned into him finding just enough strength to hold her head up. "Naruto, Kakashi, Gai and . . ."  
Sai gave her one of his typical smiles "They have all been accounted for, and are doing fine. Then again that's to be expected, you got to them first." With that information Sakura very gratefully fell into unconsciousness.

AN:

Well … um hi there. For those of you who don't know me I'm UNCPanda and this is my first Naruto Fic. Let me know what you think, reviews fuel my spirit and keep me happy and writing


	2. Waking up and Rushing Forward

Her head was pounding, she was nauseous, her limbs felt like jello, and on top of that there was an annoying beeping sound. She hadn't even opened her eyes and she could tell that it was going to be a bad day. Maybe if she kept them closed everything would go away; the pain . . . the goddamn beeping. As the beeping sped up Sakura finally gave in and opened her eyes, and then closed them immediately. Bringing her hands to her eyes she began rubbing them in an effort to adjust to the light, while noting the pain in her shoulders. After a moment she dropped her hands from her eyes and cracked one open, finding that the evil light was much more tolerable.

Still lying down, she let her eyes wander the room, and the realization hit her; she wasn't in her room, she was in the hospital. Except this was most defiantly not Konoha's hospital. Taking a deep breath Sakura studied the room and tried to remember what had happened and just like that everything came rushing forward. They were at war; she had been at the medical camp helping Shizune when Naruto's clone had disappeared. In an effort to find out what had happened she had returned to the front lines to find Kakashi, only he hadn't been there and neither had Gai. It had taken hours of healing wounded, while searching for her sensei to find what she was looking for. Kakashi and Gai had rushed to Naruto's aid, in his battle against the masked man. It had been another hour after that before she had been able to sneak away to find her boys.

Of course nothing was that simple. There had been obstacles, rouge ninja that had joined the kill for all that was called war. They had slowed her up big time but were no big challenge. When she had finally reached her destination her boys looked like hell. The masked man lay dead with a bleeding Kakashi sitting next to him. Gai sat a few feet behind him, a silent support. Naruto and Bee were huddled together each sporting wounds of their own. Naruto's skin was burned from the amount of chakra he had used, and from the way he was breathing she would guess that he had at least three broken ribs. Bee's arm was torn up pretty badly and had a gash in his leg.

Making an executive decision Sakura went to Naruto and Bee first. Naruto greeted her with his usual smile, though it was more sad than normal, and bee just stared at her, one eyebrow rising at the sight of her. Sitting down next to Naruto she had hugged him before getting to work. Green coated hands worked quickly healing four broken ribs; damn she had been one off before moving to his hands where the burnt skin gave way to fresh pink skin, she had then wrapped them in bandages. She then moved to Bee's arm knitting the skin back together, before bandaging that as well.

Having given Kakashi all the time _he _could afford Sakura moved towards him, stopping right next to him. Kneeling beside him she wrapped him in her arms as she watched tears fall. After a few minutes of labored sobs Sakura moved in front of him, taking his vest off followed by his shirt. Two broken ribs and a rather large gash later Sakura wrapped bandages around his upper torso only slightly worried about his chakra depletion.

Kakashi had once again survived, and he would get through it, she would make sure of it. But for right now he needed time to work through it. Moving on to Gai he gave her a small smile as she inspected him. His leg was broken from most likely a rough landing; he was covered in cuts and bruises and had less chakra than Kakashi but would be fine after some R&R.

After that she had led Kakashi over to Naruto and Bee while supporting Gai on his weak leg. No one said anything for what had to be two hours. The silence was only interrupted when Inoichi had made an appearance in their minds. Telling them that Madara had been sealed but Tsunade was in critical condition. Sakura hadn't even hesitated, giving a quick order to the boys to stay put until the medics came for them, and then threatening Naruto with an unscheduled trip to Kiri she had left rushing to her Shishou's side.

Her chakra having risen back to forty percent or so during her rest period she had kept Tsunade alive until Shizune had come then they had stabilized her and then she had fainted . . . damn.

Finding the will to move despite the pain Sakura sat up, feeling a slight tug in her arm from the IV.

"And what do you think you're doing girly." Sakura's head whipped to the side, much to her neck's protest in the form of a shot of pain down her spine. What she found had her eye twitching, a little old man with an abnormally large nose sat in the hospital bed next to hers a shogi board in front of him.

Forcing the twitch to stop Sakura answered his question with one or two of her own "Where am I and who are you?"

"Mind your tongue little missy, I'm the Tsuchikage so show some respect and you're in the hospital. I'd think you'd know that since you seem to know your way around the human body. Or maybe all Konoha shinobi are just that dense."

The twitch was back, this old coot was the Tsuchikage, seriously? Clenching her teeth Sakura replied "I know I'm in the hospital, what I meant is which one?"

Turning back to the Shogi board he turned it around and moved a piece before answering her "Then be more specific, specifics are what keep things from becoming jumbled."

Trying one more time Sakura asked "Which village are we in." The look on her face would have sent any number of Konoha shinobi running, Naruto and Kakashi included.

"Kumo and before you ask Tsunade is in Suna. Farther away from the fighting since there's no way of telling how long she'll be out. But she's alive . . . thanks to you."

Relaxing at those words Sakura threw her covers aside and began the work of taking out her IV and the monitors which sent Oonoki in to a sputtering mess "Just what do you think you're doing."

"Going back to the front lines, my friends need me."

"You're hurt you'll be of no help."

Sakura rolled her eyes before flashing through the signs to heal herself except no chakra came forward.

AN:

Well than everyone give a big warm welcome to Oonoki. I don't know why but I thought I could have some fun with him. I also think he'd be in the Kumo Hospital because he's low on chakra but still awake and able to defend himself . . . plus he's old so I don't think he would have been able to hold on much longer so it was this or kill him . . .I was partial to this. Also we found out what happened beforehand. More than likely this will not follow the series, Kishimoto is all over the place and well I'll do what I need to do. Anyways reviews make me happy and they happen to make me update quicker. So until next time

-UNCPanda


	3. The Game Begins

Sakura's eyes widened slightly before trying once more to bring her chakra forward, only to receive the same result.

"It's not going to work." Sakura's eyes locked onto the old Tsuchikage. He had a knowing look in his eyes and a cat that ate the canary smirk on his lips. Something was telling Sakura that he was bored and she had become his new source of entertainment.

Taking a deep breath to keep from snarling, she squared her shoulders, clenched her teeth and grounded out her question "What did they do?"

The old man laughed, not chuckle, but full out laughed. Her eyes narrowed and Oonoki laughed even harder. Clenching her fists Sakura wondered just how much trouble she would get in for punching the Tsuchikage. The punch wouldn't have any chakra in it so he'd only make a dent in the wall and Tsunade would forgive her . . . eventually . . . right?

"Your chakra was sealed."

Sakura's body stiffened at the new addition to the conversation more upset that she hadn't sensed him than the fact that he seemed to know what was going on. Forcing herself to relax she twisted her head to stare at the newcomer. It took only a minute to place his face as she quickly came to realize that he was the medic who had managed Tsunade's pain while she had healed her. Turning to fully face him, her face slipped into a calm façade, the one that would have Kakashi, Naruto and Sai sweating bullets. "And why is that exactly?"

He stuck his hands in the pockets of the white doctor's jackets that rested over his standard Kumo uniform and walked forward, right into her personal space. He was taller than her and she had to lift her head to look him in the eyes. Meeting her gaze he answered "Shizune-san asked me to. You over worked yourself in the fields. Your body was so exhausted that you've been out for a week. Even with all the rest you've had your chakra reserves are at less than fifty percent. Continual usage,"

",can permanently damage a person's chakra system." Sakura finished.

"Correct. With that in mind and your extensive medical knowledge you know that bed rest is the best thing for your body at the moment. "

Sakura crossed her arms under her breasts, and raised an eyebrow. In response the man widened his stance, crossing his arms as well before narrowing his eyes. A standoff had begun; one Sakura had no patience for, if the vain throbbing on her forehead was any indication. After a few minutes of silence Shi spoke "I've been ordered to restrain you if necessary."

Those few words made Sakura want to scream and she would have if Shi didn't move during her fit of indecision. He approached with speed that had to have been taught by the Raikage himself. He made to sweep her feet from underneath her but years of training with Tsunade had Sakura reacting immediately. Jumping up Sakura curled her feet close to her body before using her momentum to propel herself forward enough to use Shi's shoulders as a spring board using her hands to twist her body before landing on her feet. Her chakra may have been sealed but she still had her tai-jutsu and if he thought she was going down without a fight he was dead wrong.

Shifting into a defensive stance Sakura watched as Shi stood slowly cautiously before turning to face her. Sakura's eyes widened as Shi shifted to a relaxed position, hands going to his hips as he smiled at her. "I've never met a woman so willing to fight in nothing but a nightgown and underwear."

Sakura blinked a few times before looking down. She was dressed in a crème nightgown that had to be silk that went down a few inches past her knees. It was held up by two spaghetti straps, one that had slipped down to rest on her upper arm. Shifting she felt underwear that she prayed were either new or had come from her pack cause the nightgown sure as hell wasn't hers.

Beating down the heat rising in her cheeks, though not completely succeeding she looked back to Shi . . . who wasn't there. Going off of instinct Sakura threw an elbow back hitting what had to be pure muscle. The sharp intake of breath from Shi and the pain in her shoulder told her that she had made a hit. Of course it was pure muscle. Then his hand enclosed around her upper arm, stopping any further attack with that arm. Using her feet to pivot she threw a punch with her left hand, a punch he caught. He had taken the bait. Smiling serenely at him she brought her knee up with force that forced Shi to let go and brought him to his knees. Walking past him she stopped in the doorway turned her head over her shoulder and said "I'm still a kunoichi, even without chakra."

Leaving the hospital room, gown swishing as she went Sakura made her way down the hospital's hall in search of more . . . appropriate attire. Sticking close to the wall, out of the way, Sakura focused on the sounds. Some things were universal one of those being that noise was a big part of the hospital especially in the E.R... Critically wounded patients, shouting doctors and nervous nurses made it easily distinguishable. It also happened to be close to an exit for those emergency patients.

Following the shouts Sakura came to the E.R. and stopped. The room was overflowing. Beds were filled, makeshift cots were on the floor, blood was splattered everywhere and the air stank of death. Yet none of that bothered her. It didn't even faze her. Not after everything she had seen.

Any thought of going back to the fields vanished as she moved forward, Tsunade's words echoing in her head. "No matter how excellent your chakra control one day you'll find yourself drained on the field a comrade dying in front of you. It's at that point that you take chakra out of the equation and go back to the basics." Tsunade had gone on to train her in enough civilian techniques to keep someone alive until help came.

Kneeling down next to the closest patient she set to work.

A second after Sakura left the room, Shi who was still kneeling on the ground poofed into smoke, the real one than shushined into the doorway a moment later. "Definitely Hime's student." Oonoki muttered, turning the Shogi board one more time.

Shi glanced at the old Kage before walking over to the bed. He briefly glanced at the man's medical chart before glancing at the Shogi board. Placing the chart back on the end of the bed he reached over and moved a piece on the board. Oonoki glanced at him, waiting.

"That may be, but I'm the Raikage's right hand man and it's my move." With that Shi left the room in search of the pink haired medic turned escape artist.

Oonoki watched the man leave before glancing at the Shogi board. Something told him that the real life game was going to be much, much more interesting. And with what could only be described as a twisted smile he packed away the board and settled in for a nap. After all what else did he have to do while he waited?

AN:

So here's the new chapter if any of you are wondering when Shi made the switcher-ro it was when Sakura examined the gown. Right now they're in a game of cat and mouse where currently Sakura is the mouse and Shi is the cat. Hope y'all enjoyed.

-UNCPanda


	4. You Want Me to Go Wearing This?

Shi took his time following Sakura's trail, after all there was only so much trouble the pinkette could get in to. The trail was easy to follow; she hadn't bothered hiding her tracks and probably wouldn't have until she had gotten outside. Expecting at least a bit of a work out Shi began to roll his shoulders loosening his muscles as he approached the E.R., preparing to slip out of the white doctor's coat. That is until he saw said pinkette bent over a patient, her gown splattered with blood as she issued out orders.

And for a moment Shi stood in shock as he watched the woman stich up a patient, talking gently to the patient while the woman quietly gave an order to the orderly assisting her. Then her face contorted in frustration, something was wrong, something she couldn't fix without chakra. He moved forward without thinking, kneeling down across from her Shi sat to work, stabilizing the man as Sakura finished closing his wound.

When the job was done, they moved on to the next one; Shi fixing the internal injuries while Sakura did what she could with what little she had. She would never admit it, but she was grateful for the kumo nin as they worked seamlessly together. By the time they were done Shi's chakra was almost gone and Sakura could barely stand. With no more wounded to tend to, for the moment, Shi guided the pink haired woman out of the room and into the hallway. With no energy left Sakura leaned against the wall and slid into a sitting position. Shi hobbled over to the wall across from her and did the same, taking a moment to study the woman. The nightgown Mabui had given him to give to the Hokage's student was covered in blood, and something told him he was going to have to dish out the money for a new one. Her forehead was beaded with sweat and she looked to be on the brink of unconsciousness, this was why he had told her to rest.

Forcing himself to his feet Shi walked over to her and knelt next to the woman. Her head was tilted to the side, resting on her shoulder, her eyes fluttering every so often. Sliding his arms under her, he picked her up and began walking back to her hospital room.

The room was pitch black, it was already well in to the night, and a new exhaustion took hold of his body. Allowing his eyes to adjust he walked to the bed and laid her down, making sure to cover her with a blanket he left the room.

A deja vu feeling washed over Sakura as she woke up. Sitting up in the bed she turned to look at the Tsuchikage who was once again playing Shogi. For a moment she wondered if it had been a dream; the fight with Shi, the E.R . . . . working with Shi. A quick glance at her clothes told her it hadn't been.

"They brought you new clothes and put them in the bathroom along with towels and washcloths." Oonoki said, not looking up from his game. Sakura didn't even hesitate, stepping out of the bed and walking straight towards the bathroom. Locking the door, Sakura stripped and turned on the water and waited for it to warm. As soon as steam started to fill the room Sakura stepped into the shower. The water smelled different almost like well water, a possibility with the entire village being so deep within the mountains. Sakura took her time scrubbing the blood off of her skin and rinsed her hair, making sure every inch of her was clean before turning off the water and stepping out on to the cold tile. She dried off and dressed, finding that she had been given a pair of shorts and an oversized men's shirt this time. Secretly she was relieved. While the villages had come to a truce of sorts that didn't mean the peace would last, and this outfit was much more conducive to fighting than the night gown had been. Allowing her hair to hang loose and wet Sakura left the bathroom and reentered the shared room, to find some company waiting for her.

"Haruno Sakura?" Sakura stared at the woman who had posed her name as a question, before nodding. "My name is Mabui."

"The Raikage's assistant?"

The woman nodded "Correct. You've been summoned to the war room, if you would please follow me." Sakura raised an eyebrow at the woman in question. "Is something wrong?" Mabui asked.

"I need my uniform." Mabui looked confused at this. "I'm a representation of my village mam, and appearing in front of other leaders in nothing more than a tee-shirt and shorts would be irresponsible. Not to mention if Tsunade-sama found out I would be crushed into dust."

"Haruno-san, I understand, but we're running short on time and . . ."

"I'm an old man who doesn't move as fast as I used to and Pinkie was kind enough to escort me." Oonoki interrupted his meaning clear.

Mabui bowed, "I'll be back shortly." and left the room.

Sakura turned to face the old Tsuchikage. "I've been deemed well enough to go to a meeting and now you owe me one."

Sakura bristled at that idea. She didn't like the idea of owing anyone anything; she had learned that lesson with Kakashi. One bad bet with Kakashi hand ended with her owing Kakashi a favor which had led to her having to bathe his dogs, and Bull did NOT like baths. "I didn't ask for your help." She said, as respectfully as she could manage.

"Well you got it anyways girly." The Tsuchikage said sliding from his bed to the floor, to look her in the eyes. Sakura's fists clenched and she had to fight to keep her eye from twitching. Mabui came back, before she could retort, with a standard Konoha uniform, though she noted the weapons pouches were empty. She took a moment to remind herself to be grateful that she wouldn't have to show up in night clothes and went to change. When she was done, she and Oonoki followed behind Mabui out of the hospital, down several streets to the Kage tower. Mabui held the door for them, before leading them up the stairs, down several twisting hallways and to a plain looking door. Taking a moment to place her hand on the door, Mabui let out a burst of chakra before turning the knob. Being the lower ranking kunoichi Sakura was the last to enter, and immediately locked eyes with Kakashi.

He was in the Kage seat she noted and walked over to take her place behind him, but Kakashi had other ideas. Meeting her half way he gave her a hug, one she returned. The hug served several purposes; one, that he was okay and that he was she was okay and two, to deliver a message. In a series of taps on her spine he communicated that she was taking the place as his assistant and that they would talk more after. She gave him an extra squeeze to tell him she understood before they both walked back to the Hokage's seat. Taking her place behind Kakashi she allowed her eyes to wander the room. All of the Kage were present none too worse for wear. Behind them stood their guards; The Mizukage had Ao and a younger looking man with sharpened teeth, Garaa had Temari and Kankuro, behind the Tsuchikage were two people she didn't know, the Raikage had Darui, captain of the first company and . . .Shi. Standing with her was Shikaku Nara who gave a polite nod before turning his attention to the meeting. The tension in the room made the hair on Sakura's neck stand on end and butterflies fluttered in her stomach, and then the meeting began.


	5. Ice Cold Revenge

**AN: So the usual disclaimer applies and obviously this was written before I found out Shikaku and Ao died, still upset about that. Anyways I hope y'all enjoy.**

The meeting served one purpose and one purpose only; to acknowledge Kakashi as Hokage, at least until Tsunade was able to come back. Discussions of reconstruction and treaties would be saved till later, when Konoha was stable and Kakashi was secure in his position; which would be soon. The elders would make sure of that.

The moment the meeting was over orderlies appeared in front of the Kage and their subordinates and began leading them out the door. Kakashi, Shikaku, and she followed a kid that couldn't be more than a chunin through the twisting halls to the diplomat's quarters located within the Raikage's tower. Kakashi dismissed the kid once he had made sure the room was secure and bug free, old habits die hard.

It didn't take long to make their selves at home. In all honesty Sakura was just grateful to be out of the hospital room. Sinking down on to one of the couches in the room, next to the Nara Clan head Sakura waited for Kakashi to say something.

"They made me Hokage."

Sakura smiled "So I see."

"I managed to avoid this hat for years and they finally caught me." Kakashi's attention went to Shikaku "This is your fault."

Shikaku stared at Kakashi "It'll only be for a few weeks. Tsunade will be up and about in no time." His gaze shifted to Sakura as he spoke, "She's doing fine, and it seems to be the same deal as before, another severe case of chakra exhaustion, Shizune's with her."

Sakura let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. Kakashi cleared his throat and their attention went back to him "Either way I'm stuck as Hokage until further notice and if Shikaku has agreed to act as an advisor, and Sakura you already know how to do a good deal of this stuff which makes you my ever faithful assistant." Sakura nodded while Shikaku held a poker face. "The first thing will be to remove that seal on your chakra," he nodded to Sakura "You may be an assistant but you're also a body guard and I won't have you defenseless." Sakura smiled, it was about time, and she hated to be without her chakra. "While some have gone home to help with the village a good seventy percent of our forces are still on the fields finishing with some rogues and the other remaining forces. Either way we're on our way to being done."

"That just means we're going to have to sit through meetings with the other Kage and Feudal Lords." Shikaku stated leading to a groan from Kakashi. "Good news is those won't start for a few more days at the very least."

"Which gives you a few days to recuperate," Kakashi said, with a pointed look in Sakura's direction. Sakura bristled not liking where this was headed "from the safety of your hospital room alongside the Tsuchikage." Sakura's mouth dropped "I mean after all the hospital is the best place to recuperate, they have all the necessary equipment and care. That's what you always say, isn't?" Sakura felt her blood boil; he was using her own words against her. Words she had spoken when he hadn't even been able to feed himself. She was going to kick his butt when he wasn't Hokage anymore. "I'll even walk you there myself. Aren't I nice Sakura-chan?" Correction she was going to kill him. But if she didn't go he'd use this against her in the future as a reason to never go to the hospital. It would also make her seem hypocritical and then he wouldn't follow her "Medical Advice". So now she had a choice; go to the hospital and be subjected to the Tsuchikage or not go and have Kakashi remind her about it every chance he got. She was doomed if she did and doomed if she didn't. Option one was going to be the least detrimental to her health though. It would only last a few days instead of a lifetime which option two would no doubt lead to. She could already hear Kakashi.

So with a glare that could have killed Sakura stood up and headed to the door. With a hand on the doorknob she waited and once Kakashi had stood up she gripped the door knob, disfiguring it even without chakra and wrenched the door open springing one of the hinges loose before storming out the door.

Kakashi watched her leave before turning to Shikaku his one visible eye creasing "Revenge is a dish best served cold."

Shikaku closed his eyes leaning back into the couch "Yeah, until its time for a physical and she does everything within her power to make you suffer."

Kakashi was unfazed by statement and made his way outside to Sakura.

She was waiting outside, eyes closed body tense on the look out for any threat.

He stopped next to her, waiting for something. "I never really appreciated the sun, just how warm it is, how relaxing." Kakashi nodded, knowing that the slight rustling of the fabric of his mask would tell her he was listening. "I wish I was out on the field with them, I feel useless here."

Kakashi sighed, "I wish I was too. I hate that stuffy office and the hat messes up my hair."

Sakura chuckled her eyes opening as she began walking, Kakashi falling into step beside her. "How are you?"

The question came as no surprise to Kakashi, he known Sakura long enough to know that seeing him break down had bothered her, hell it bothered him. But that breakdown had let her in and he doubted that he'd ever be able to push her out, no matter what he did. "I'm fine."

The look she gave him told him that she knew he was lying, but she didn't press the issue any farther. He knew that she would grill him later, when they were in the safety of their own village where an episode of Sakura trying to force Kakashi to vent his feelings would be a welcomed norm.

They reached the hospital with leisure in their step, Darui and Shi were waiting outside the hospital and Sakura watched as Kakashi visibly straightened. Sakura studied the Kumo nin as she approached Shi's face was twisted into a scowl something she hadn't seen before. Every other time she had seen him his expression had been neutral. Darui stood next to him, seemingly lazy but his chakra proved that he was ready for action at any moment. With a feeling of trepidation Sakura realized that this was how things usually were; treating each other with weariness.

Darui nodded to Kakashi while Shi remained a few steps back. "I trust that the seal will be removed from my assistant's chakra and that she will be well taken care of." Kakashi's voice held a certain amount of distance that was reserved for only these types of situations.

"Of course." Darui's voice was calm, collected and respectful and as Shi turned to go back in the hospital and Darui stepped to the side Sakura took that as her cue to go. With one last glance at Kakashi she walked into the hospital.


End file.
